The Friends of the Farm: Daniel Mattern & Roxana Jullapat

[Cooks County]

Why We Picked Them: The husband-and-wife team—formerly of Ammo—reminds us why the farm-to-table ethos is nearly compulsory these days. It’s not that every chef is a diehard locavore or an eco-activist; it’s that the produce tastes so darn good. At their new Beverly Boulevard restaurant, where Mattern is executive chef and Jullapat is pastry chef, the couple plucks green garbanzos from their shells with extra care (before whipping them into a chickpea pancake with black mustard and raita) and makes sure every peach is coddled (and then put into a peach melba with frozen almond nougatine). Harvest Season: Jullapat: “With-out farmers there would be no philosophy behind what we do; it would just be a job. I don’t think we would have cooked for this long if we did not have that interaction.” Mattern: “We don’t have a signature dish per se; our signature is being as seasonal as possible. And we don’t want to get too comfortable. It’s a matter of trying new things and seeing what others are doing.” » 8009 Beverly Blvd., Beverly Grove, cookscountyrestaurant.com.